Guardiola Threatens Exit if Man City Squad Isn’t Reduced

Manchester City’s boss, Pep Guardiola, has delivered a firm message to the club’s management: he will depart if the squad size isn’t decreased before the upcoming season.

The Spanish coach voiced his discontent after having to exclude five seasoned players from the lineup during City’s 3-1 victory against Bournemouth on Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola stated his desire for a more compact squad next season. Failing that, he will leave the club, citing the difficulty of omitting experienced players.

“I informed the club that I don’t want this situation. I don’t want to have five or six players sitting in the stands,” Guardiola commented.

“I simply won’t accept it. If the squad is trimmed, I will stay. It goes against my principles to have players in the stands, unable to participate.”

Rico Lewis, Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov, James McAtee, and Claudio Echeverri were among those left out of the game-day squad.

Guardiola also faced difficult selection decisions during the FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday, reinforcing his view of an overpopulated squad.

Following City’s first season without a trophy since 2017, Guardiola is aiming to restructure the team and advocating for a smaller squad to preserve competitive stability and team morale.

“I don’t want to have 24, 25, 26 players when everyone is available,” he explained. “Should we have injuries, that’s unfortunate. We can utilize players from the academy if needed.”

“[We] can’t maintain the emotional connection with the club; the team’s spirit, creating a bond with each other has been somewhat lost this season,” he concluded.